Blue Tit brief look at the nestbox

A second cautious inspection of the Birbfy camera nestbox.



A slightly longer visit than the first one about a week ago. The video clip has been slowed down to half speed. It doesn't look very sure about venturing inside as yet.

A Brief Look

This morning saw the first bit of interest being shown in the new camera nestbox.



I took a still shot from the video as the Blue Tit stayed only for a few seconds.

Female Blackcap?

The feeder is working well in its new location. Most birds only land for a few seconds as they are probably still wary of a new feeder. This morning I was pleased to spot what I believe was a female Blackcap. They have visited the garden a few times in past years.



The video is slowed to half speed. If anyone can confirm an identification that would help a lot. The second bird, a Blue Tit, has become a regular visitor already.

Nestbox Activity

At last I have been able to check on any activity in the camera nestbox. For some reason I lost wifi contact with the camera for several weeks but a re-boot of everything seems to have restored communications. There have been visits made by a Blue Tit on several different days. This capture shows a pair visiting:



Notice how the first one calls to its mate and moves to a corner so as not to act as a soft landing for the second one.

A few Feathered Visitors

I was fortunate to spot a couple of Long Tailed Tits visit the bird feeders. It is quite a while since I last saw any visit my feeders. Unfortunately they didn't stay long as there were scared away by the noisy arrival of a Wood Pigeon. When I checked the automatic camera recordings I saw that Great and Blue Tits are also visiting. Not recorded by the camera was a brief visit by a Coal Tit.



You may have noticed some late Sunflower plants growing near the feeders. In the late Spring I tried twice to get some seeds started in pots for planting in the front garden. They all failed to germinate! These plants are the result of randomly scattered seeds dropped when the birds drop them whilst feeding.

Peanut Cake Visitors

The Robin Peanut Cake blocks I ordered from C J Wildlife are proving to be very popular with my garden visitors, especially as many birds are feeding nestlings at the moment. A short video showing Blue Tit, Robin and House Sparrow:



The 'cake' consists of peanut flour, tallow, Sunflower hearts, kibbled peanuts, dried mealworms and other seeds and fruit.

The camera nest box hasn't been taken by any birds but does seem to have a resident wasp. I am sure there is a Song Thrush nest in the Ivy at the bottom of the garden, or very nearby. A couple of days ago I saw two Song Thrushes together on the lawn and one keeps visiting to collect worms and always flies back to the same spot in the Ivy. So far I haven't managed to video it as the Song Thrush is very wary and timid.

Blue Tit - Nestbox Shuffle

A while ago I intimated that the next stage in choosing a nestbox would be a nestbox shuffle. The bird spreads its wings and shuffles round the bottom of the box.



It seems to be a way of checking whether the box is large enough for a nest and a brood of chicks. If she is satisfied with the box we may see some nest building soon, or maybe it being used as a roost overnight.

Still Investigating

A few mornings ago a Great Tit investigated the camera nestbox. An hour later these Blue Tits spent about four minutes checking it out.



Nothing more until this morning when a pair of Great Tits made a short visit. No sign of a 'nest box shuffle' from either species. That is when the female spreads her wings and shuffles round the bottom of the box as though checking it is the right size for nest building.

More Nest Box Inspections

Today was the fourth time Great Tits checked out the Nest Box. What surprised me was the Blue Tit which also visited a short while later. If the video appears to be greyed out it will still play. Seems to be a glitch with YouTube or Blogger.



I wonder how many other sites they are checking out before making a choice.

Bird Table Cam - First Results

When checking to see what has been recorded the phone app looks like this:



The orange bars show when movement was detected and recordings made. Not all clips show birds actually on the bird table but here are the best so far:



Dunnock, Robin, Starlings and Blue Tit. As I thought, the seed is well in focus but the birds are just a bit too close so end up in soft focus but still recognisable.

Learning Fast

This young Blue Tit has mastered the art of holding food under its feet:

Busy Blue Tits

2nd attempt as, believe it or not, YouTube removed the first attempt for ' violating the guidelines'!

Lots of activity at the nestbox on the back of the workshop.
Unfortunately no camera in the box this year.



I set up the 50D on a tripod and left it filming for a few minutes and edited out the waiting times.
The first clip shows both parents visiting at the same time.

P.S. On appeal the original video was re-instated. Then I deleted it anyway.
No point in having two identical videos, albeit with slightly different titles.
The original had the same title as this post so I guess a YouTube bot assumed it must have been 'rude'.

Feeding Time

The Blue Tit chicks have really grown in the past eight days.



On our early morning walk I spotted about six House Martins swooping about overhead.
Managed a quick snapshot as one neared its nest on a nearby house

 

There appeared to be three nests under that roof.

Blue Tit Eggs Hatch

About 9.45 yesterday morning I saw Mrs Blue Tit eating egg shell.
The first one had hatched. By 7 p.m. it looked as though five of the eight eggs had hatched so far.

Some snippets of video from the nestbox camera:

Blue Tit Incubation Started

I had been a bit worried that the male hadn't been seen visiting the nest for a couple of days.
Worries over, as I saw two visits today where he brought food for the female.



Looking forward to the start of hatching near the middle of the month.

Eight!

Yesterday morning I could see seven eggs in the Blue Tit nestbox.
Unlike previous days Mrs BT spent most of the day on the nest.
I assumed she had finished laying but when she nipped out this morning ...



... the total is now eight.
She didn't leave the nest for very long and is back keeping the eggs warm.

Definitely Six

This morning I had a clear view of the eggs in the Blue Tit nestbox

Your Guess is as Good as Mine

When Mrs BT moved out of the way this morning:



Is that three or four eggs?

Do You See What I See?

Mrs Blue Tit has spent the past five nights sleeping in the nestbox.
Video clip of her settling down the first night:



Most nights she has avoided sleeping in the middle of the nest.
Also she is careful to keep to the edge of the nest during day visits.
From past experience that should mean she has started laying but not ready to incubate yet,

This morning I managed to grab a poor video snapshot when she left the nest.



Near the centre of the nest it is possible to make out at least one egg.

New Year's Day Visitor

Just been checking for any recordings from the nestbox camera.



By the markings on its head it looks like a Blue Tit to me.